Several experts on disability, who are also pioneers in developing a more profound theology of disability, have said the Catholic Church under Pope Francis is making good strides in terms of welcome and acceptance.
They say still more needs to be done for “creative learners” to be fully incorporated into their ecclesial communities, beginning with seminary formation.
John Swinton, who specialises in mental disability as a professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral care at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, told Crux, “There have been big movements across all of the churches” on the inclusion of disabled individuals in recent years.
At an academic level, the area of disability is now a more “accepted field of study,” meaning that many of the “bigger theological issues” surrounding disability “are now part of the conversation” in a way they weren’t in the past, he said.